When Jim Stanton (Wilson) survives a bullet wound to the head, he wakes up with a severe case of amnesia. Luckily, his wife is on-hand to fill in the blanks but her identity is quickly called into question when the pair are attacked on their way home. As it turns out, the woman is apparently a hooker called Michelle who was paid to get Stanton out of the hospital and she claims to know nothing of his true identity. With no one else to turn to, Stanton is forced to team up with Michelle in an attempt to discover who was responsible for trying to kill him and why they are seemingly still out to finish the job.
‘Bloodfist V’ is arguably the most predictable entry into the series thus far. Whether this automatically makes it the worst one is up for debate, but the combination of the incredibly tired amnesia storyline mixed with a handful of paper-thin characters certainly makes it a front-runner for me. Wilson is, for the most part, still a relatively likeable lead, but unfortunately he is saddled with a somewhat annoying sidekick (played by Denice Duff) and the rest of the cast is fairly wasted. As with the last film, ‘Bloodfist V’ also tries to inject some excitement with a final “big” plot twist, but it really isn’t all that interesting and winds up feeling like a case of too little too late.
As for the action, the first few battles certainly have a hint of Steven Seagal about them. There are numerous times when Wilson wipes out an opponent using a grapple or flip, and you can’t help but think that this was heavily influenced by Seagal’s popularity at the time. While it’s definitely nice to see Wilson trying something different, it does all become a little too comical when he noticeably starts flinging every single opponent about the place. Speaking of opponents, it’s strange to see that this particular part doesn’t really have anyone even remotely interesting for Wilson to face off against. You’d think that considering Steve James is included amongst the cast that we might get a decent showdown or two, but sadly all we really get is Wilson easily dispatching of numerous minions and a very disappointing final fight that is over before you know it.
‘Bloodfist V’ is a definite step down from its predecessors, which is saying something as the previous parts weren’t exactly mind-blowing. It’s possible that fans of Don Wilson or cheap action movies in general may appreciate it more, but to me it’s evident that the series was starting to run out of ideas.
- Blu-ray release: ‘Shawscope Volume Three’ - November 21, 2024
- Trailer: ‘About Family’ - November 20, 2024
- Blu-ray release: ‘Rouge’ - November 20, 2024
